Benjamin Kendall Emerson was born on December 20, 1843, in Nashua, New Hampshire, the son of Benjamin F and Elizabeth (Kendall) Emerson. He prepared for college at Tilton Academy in Vermont. While there he heard of Edward Hitchcock and decided to study Geology under him at Amherst College. He went to Amherst but missed Hitchcock as he retired that year and Emerson heard only two of his lectures.

He graduated from Amherst in 1865 with honors and from there he went to Groton Academy to teach chemistry and zoology. In 1867 he went to Germany to study geology and received his Ph.D from Gottingen in 1870. He returned to Amherst where he stayed as Professor of Geology (later Professor Emeritus) for the remainder of his life. He died in Amherst on April 7, 1932.